Hobart Drive open to two-way traffic

Roundabout restriction removed

Hobart Road on Hillsboro’s north side opened to two-way traffic Friday morning, according to Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth.

He also said a restriction at the roundabout on Carl Smith Drive that prohibited drivers from turning toward PAS Technologies has been removed.

Crews from the John R. Jurgensen Company are currently reconstructing and widening Hobart Road and U.S. Route 62, adding turn lanes and a traffic signal at the intersection. With a portion of the reconstruction nearly completed on Hobart Road, they are now able to move traffic in both directions, and Hobart Road was opened to eastbound motorists by mid-morning Friday, Ohio Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Kathleen Fuller said in a news release.

Otworth said that while there is still work to be done, the Jurgensen Company continues to work well ahead of its original August 2016 completion date.

Along with the restrictions on Hobart Road, U.S. 62 traffic has been shifted to two, 10-foot lanes at the intersection with Hobart Road. Although both Hobart Road and U.S. 62 will be open to two-way traffic through the remainder of construction, traffic will be maintained on temporary and existing pavement, and motorists are reminded to use additional caution, Fuller said.

Carl Smith Drive runs from the end of Hobart Drive west to SR 73, just north of the SR 73 Self Storage. Heading east, Carl Smith Drive runs toward U.S. 62 past Homestead Avenue onto Hobart Drive and then Hobart Drives empties onto U.S. 62 north, or North High Street.

Preliminary plans for the Hobart/Carl Smith Drive project began in January 2007 when Otworth approached ODOT with a vision to improve the area’s transportation network by extending the existing Hobart Road from its terminus near U.S. Route 62 at the northern corporation limit of Hillsboro to SR 73.

“Things are coming together and it’s kind of nice to see,” said Otowrth, adding that the project would not have been possible without help from everyone from local government officials and ODOT to land owners.

In partnership with the Highland County Engineer’s Office, ODOT awarded a contract to the Jurgensen Company of Cincinnati for approximately $6.9 million to improve Hobart Road and construct the 1.2-mile extension between U.S. 62 and SR 73.

For additional information regarding lane and road closures caused by construction, accidents, flooding or other related traffic events throughout the state, visit www.ohgo.com